


In Joy and Sorrow

by InsomniacCoffee



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Animal Death, Brother-Sister Relationships, Childhood Memories, Dakavendish is implied slightly, Flashbacks, Gen, Mississippi Purchase Timeline, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Photophobia Vinnie, Post-Apocalypse, Post-War, S1 and S2 Spoilers, Suicidal Thoughts, They both may be pricks but they're our lovable pricks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-19 20:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18977527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacCoffee/pseuds/InsomniacCoffee
Summary: Vinnie and Savannah seem to go way back and no one can pinpoint why. After all, what does a third-class agent have to offer to an elite first-class agent? Absolutely nothing.The ‘answer’ couldn’t be farther from the truth, however. They did go through quite a lot together, specifically coming from the Mississippi Purchase timeline. The reality is that they are a lot closer than they actually show publicly. Or well, used to be close.





	In Joy and Sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Hi welcome to ‘I always have the best ideas during work but the problem is I have other ideas I wanted to work with first; draft 4’~~  
>  I wanted to write fanfics based on the secondary characters such as Sara, Block, Brick, etc and this was just something too cute to pass up on. 
> 
> Of course, there’s the whole fact Vinnie flirted with Savannah at a point and Savannah technically did kabedon on Vinnie- (for literally one scene in one episode in one season-thanks, I hate it) so I didn't think it was appropriate to make them biological siblings as I wanted. But I guess that not being blood-related made for a lot more conflict so there's that-
> 
> I’m using the headcanon that Vinnie came from an alternate timeline where the Mississippi Purchase happened and throwing in Savannah. And also that Vinnie has photophobia because I dig that headcanon. 
> 
> There are no real canon ages for either character but for this fic, Vinnie will be two years older than Savannah. At the present time, Vinnie is 30 and Savannah 28. I'm sure they're a bit older than that but I'll go back and edit the ages if the show ever reveals their ages-
> 
> As always, the song I chose for the fic is [In Joy and Sorrow by HIM!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah2a-Rj5kbQ) I understand it's meant to be a romantic song but music is subjective and I think it can fit with even platonic love-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Savannah's perspective. Vinnie has changed to her. All that he seems to do is screw things up for her.

_Oh, girl, we are the same_  
_We are young and lost and so afraid_  
_There's no cure for the pain_  
_No shelter from the rain_  
_All our prayers seem to fail_

* * *

 

 

_23 Years Ago_

 

If one were to ask Savannah her earliest childhood memory, she would simply state that she doesn't recall one.

That would be a lie, however. She could very well the first childhood memory she ever had. She just simply does not like pity. 

She can remember vague memories of what was supposed to be her home with distorted faces and faded voices of what she assumed used to be her family. She remembered the bright blue sky against barren land, the smell of something resembling bacon and after rain in the mornings where people dumped corpses on an open fire after the night's battle. To anyone, it would be considered a nightmare. To her, it was home. 

And home was already gone the moment a battle began near her home. That would be her second earliest memory.

She was sure it was a battle not even connected to the war. Most likely it was a neighbor's dispute that escalated to hiring friends and family to fight one another. That's what most of the battles around her were nowadays. Nothing more than pointless battles that only ended in more deaths and bloodshed.  

Her family was involved in one of those battles. Memories were hazy but she assumed that most likely her parents had a fight with the neighbors that resulted in the outcome. And that ended in a dead family, a burned down home and being kidnapped by the people who contributed in the mess. Though, she wasn't sure if 'kidnapping' was the right word as her family's dead so there would be no one to report it as such. She could easily be sold or smuggled to another country and she would never be found. It would be one of those memories that only seems to get worse the older she gets. 

Thankfully, the worst never happened. The people who kidnapped her seemed to have forgotten about her the same night they captured her. They trapped her in a locked room however the window was not. Despite it being the second floor, she was quick to analyze her surroundings and figure out how to safely get out. She was bright enough to realize the mattress could be used to break her fall but not smart enough to know how to do it successfully as it was rather heavy for a child. 

In the end, she took her chances by using the blanket as a makeshift rope to tie the table leg to and managed to be low enough to fall to the ground without it breaking her bones. Of course, her body would be sore in the morning from the fall regardless but she ran. 

She ran as far as she could which might have been a lot at the time but probably less than a mile or two at the most. She ran until she could no longer smell the smoke from the fire and until she could see nothing but barren trees and no houses for miles and miles. It was only until then did she realize the severity of the situation. 

She's an orphan. She's lost. No one will come searching for her. She's cold and hungry and most likely she would end up dying in infertile land before anyone could ever find her.

The situation made her afraid for the first time in her young life. Battles, famine, droughts, death and all of that stuff were familiar to her. She wasn't afraid of what she was familiar with. The difference now, however, is that there would be no one to help her. No one would bother giving half the energy to search for her so she is alone. And the idea of being alone and dying alone with no one (alive) caring enough to look for her and help her was all the more terrifying. The feeling was completely new to her and she had no idea how to express it.

She quickly found a way and that was through crying. She laid down on the dead grass and cried quietly as if there was anyone around to bother.  

She must have cried herself to sleep because when she woke up, it was no longer dark. There was no sun beating down at her like she should expect (her body was definitely sore though). Instead, she was in a room much different to the one she was held captive in from how rundown it is. She wasn’t even laying on a mattress but rather a pile of blankets used for a makeshift blanket. 

She sat up in her own drowsy induced confusion as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Most likely it was a one bedroom house she was at considering how the kitchen was in the same area. She saw that the oven was on, the scent of cookies wafting through the air. A pot was used on the stove, boiling whatever it was there.

She saw the door open, expecting the worst but saw a pig enter the room and a boy with a basket of ingredients walk in right after. He must be around her age though possibly a few years older than her. He had curly brown hair and wore sunglasses with clothing that told he was in the same class as her. He smiled at her as he set the basket down, "Hey, I'm sorry if I woke you up. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

Meeting Vinnie Dakota would be her third memory. 

 ━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

_Present Day  (X months before Cavendish and Dakota get fired)_

 

It was obvious there was an uncomfortable silence looming over them as they sat in the couch of Savannah's apartment. If it wasn't enough, the fact neither of them took the coffee in front of them was another sign. None of them said a word, as if waiting for the other to speak. Whether it was out of pure politeness or because neither didn't know how to bring up the conversation was unclear. 

Occasionally, one would glance at the other only to look away when they felt they were close to making eye contact. Savannah caught glimpses of him in those lapses of a few moments. She could see his shame along with his clothes that he wouldn't be able to wear again. Considering how the clothing had major burn marks, she wouldn't be surprised if it did burn through his skin. He didn't seem to complain though so it was hard to tell. And it wasn't like she didn't come out of the failed mission unscathed either. She could still feel the aftermath of being burned on her legs, a reminder that her elaborate, expensive outfit just wasn't the best option to wear at times.

Savannah decided to be the one to speak up first, "I can't believe you caused our mission to fail."

Vinnie looked at Savannah, obviously showing he was truly apologetic at least, "I really am sorry about that. It wasn't on purpose, I promise. " 

Savannah folded her arms as she stared at him intently. She wanted to believe him, she truly did. She just wasn't sure if it that was the case anymore, "If this was the first time, I'd believe you. But this is what, the fourth, fifth time now? This can't possibly be by accident by this point!" 

"Why would I ever sabotage your missions? I would never do that to you! Listen, it's just out of my own stupidity. And sometimes Murphy's Law. But mostly me!" Admittedly, it did hurt Vinnie that Savannah was starting to think he was sabotaging her missions on purpose. It was never by accident anyway. It just ended up...happening. If it wasn't Murphy's Law that somehow got in the way, it was usually his own bad luck ensuring that their mission would fail. 

Savannah looked at him, obviously still not convinced by this. Though, she knew he was right. He had no real reason to sabotage her missions, "Then why do you always figure out where my missions are?"

He shrugged, "It's fairly easy. The database is easy for even a third class time agent to get into." Even he realized that was a stretch so he had to add in, "And also Brick loves to text me and Cavendish pictures of where he's taking his missions."

Yeah, she had to believe that part at least. She made a quick reminder to herself to talk to Brick about gloating again afterward, "Then why do you go to our missions anyway? You could still find out where I am without actually going there."

"Remember what I mentioned about Murphy's Law and my own stupidity?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I usually kinda end up needing some of those gadgets of yours. I fuck up a lot."

She simply sighed. She could've been angrier longer but she was way too exhausted to even allow anger to waste more of her energy, "Alright. I'll forgive you this time but this better be the last time I have to. This is the last time I want you anywhere near me during missions, understand?" Once she received a nod from him, she stood up, "Just stay there, I'll get the first aid kit." 

She knew Vinnie was about to protest to which she quickly spoke before he could, "You ruined my mission. This is the least you could do for me." 

  ━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

_20 years ago_

 

 

As far as she knew, Vinnie didn't fuck up often. Or used to. Or maybe he has quite a lot but the fact she used to worship the ground he walked on clouded a lot of things he fucked up with. 

Maybe Vinnie deciding it was a good idea to join a group rather than be on their own was one of his fuck ups. They did live decently for about three or so years together along with Daisy, their pet pig, but searching for food was definitely growing harder. She did try and ask how Vinnie managed to find food in the first place only to receive a change of subject with the question never asked. She had long since given up finding out how but knew that whatever he did to obtain food wasn't working any longer. 

They found a group of people that seemed more than welcome to take them in. A group of older people with no children or pets. That should've been their first sign. But they were children who were hungry and naive so they didn't think much of it when the group accepted them with open arms. And for the most part, they seemed friendly enough. 

She remembers some, not all, of the people in the group. One was a sweet woman who always gave the two her 'leftovers' which was really just most of her entire ration. One was a guitarist who had his tongue cut off but he still managed to become a quick favorite from how he still was able to entertain them and play songs from a band she was sure was  _The Beatles_ looking back. Another was a man who told fascinating stories of the past, describing grass and trees in such extremely beautiful detail that they could almost imagine the color green despite having never seen it before. Most pretended they didn't exist and that was fine with her. There were a few she wished that pretended they didn't exist.

One of them was straight up an asshole. He always complained that the two were just costing more food despite the fact the government was more kinder in giving out rations if there were children in a group. The other was just as much as an asshole as him. She always yelled at them for anything they did wrong. If the guitarist and the woman weren't around, she would treat them terribly. She made them do work that was way too much for two children to do. If they did it incorrectly, she would violently yank them out of their sleep and take them further to the woods where she would give them a beating. Mainly it was just Vinnie trying to take most of it and making sure Savannah didn't. She still has the scars despite it being decades ago.

Unfortunately, things ended up not looking up as expected. Even the government ran out of rations, creating even more chaos if there wasn't enough. This had meant the group was going to starve.

So naturally, it wouldn't take long to see that Daisy could be used as food. 

"We have to kill the pig." The woman said. She carried no amount of remorse at those words and most likely enjoyed saying it. Which is why she approached them when no one else was around.

It was obvious Vinnie wouldn't go down without a fight. "No, please!" He hugged Daisy tightly as if he could protect her from her fate.

The woman yanked him by his hair. Savannah quickly ran up to try and fight only to receive her hair being pulled also, "Listen, do you want us to starve?! Your sister to starve?" 

"N-no..." Vinnie whimpered. 

"Then you have to do your part, kid." She let the two go when she saw that she would get what she wanted. 

That still didn't stop Vinnie from beginning to cry, "Can I please be the one then...?" He couldn't finish the sentence. It seemed like Daisy was well aware of her fate from how she was licking his face as her way of saying she understood.

She seemed to contemplate for a few moments before she handed Vinnie a knife, "Slicing the throat will make it painless." She said as if it helped the situation, "I will be back in 10 minutes. You know what will happen if you don't do it." She left them alone which was probably the kindest thing she had ever done.

Vinnie and Savannah hugged Daisy for the longest time, crying and apologizing to a pig that they had grown far too attached to. She was their pet for the past three years and the only being they had besides each other. Having to go without Daisy was like going on without each other; near impossible.

"You should leave, Sav. I don't want you to see this." Vinnie finally managed to say through his choked sobs.

Savannah should. She felt sick at the idea of having to witness Daisy die but she couldn't bring herself to leave him alone either, "No. I want to stay."  

Vinnie didn't argue. Maybe he was too upset to think straight because he would have told her to leave, "Just step away." 

Savannah didn't protest and did as told. She watched as Vinnie hug and whisper things to Daisy before bringing the knife to her throat and slicing it. 

That woman was a fucking liar, they'd quickly learn. She didn't die so easily. Maybe the knife was too dull or Vinnie didn't cut deep enough. Either way, Vinnie had to resort to slicing her throat quite a few times before the screeching and flailing finally ceased and the silence was now thick in the atmosphere between the two of them until all that was audible was Vinnie's sobs and Savannah trying to comfort him until she started crying herself.

But at least they had enough food to last for two weeks.

_━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━_

_Present Day  (X months ago)_

 

Unfortunately, Vinnie never seemed to learn from his mistakes. Because he ended up screwing up Savannah and Brick's mission once again. This time, it ended with disastrous consequences for them. They were demoted to Second Class agents. 

The moment the news broke to the time agents, Vinnie was the first to go to her apartment. Savannah had half a mind to slam the door on his face the moment she saw him through the camera but out of pure obligation, she allowed him in. 

"Sav, please just hear me-"

"And why should I? I gave you so many chances and you fucked up our missions, yet again!" Savannah at this point was boiling with anger. No, rage could possibly fit into a better word. 

And who could possibly blame her? She had worked just as hard as Vinnie did to be a time agent, if not harder. And just like that, he screwed everything up for her as he did himself. It felt almost funny, in a way. He had helped her in the past so much, there was no doubt about it. But now? It seemed like he was doing the exact opposite. 

"Okay, yeah I'll admit it's entirely my fault. I'll talk to Block about it immediately after about it; it's all just one big misunderstanding." 

"But how could he possibly listen to  _you?_ You-You're just a third class time agent that no one wants to deal with!" 

"And so are you." He answered with his own retort. He probably could never reach the same anger as she but it was clear he was getting angry in his own way. 

"Like hell I am! I was doing perfectly well without you fucking everything up! I was a First Class Time Agent without your help and I'm now a Second Class Time Agent thanks to you!"

"Since when does that title even matter? You will still be treated a hell lot better than I ever would be as a third class. Whatever happened to just wanting to save the world?"

"The title  _does_ matter! Without it, what's the point? No matter what I do as a Second Class, I will never be treated the same way as a First Class agent." 

"But it shouldn't-who the hell cares about the fancy outfits or fancy stuff that come with it? You're a fucking high-class time agent who saves the world!" For some reason, Savannah could no longer see the anger in Vinnie. All she saw was something else, something she never saw from him. Disappointment, "When did you even start caring about this stuff anyway? You never did when you signed up." 

_━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━_

_10 years ago_

 

"Are you insane?" Savannah stared at him like he just suggested the most bizarre thing she ever heard. And honestly, it was. 

"I'm not, why would I lie about this kind of stuff anyway?" He answered as he showed her a small booklet. 

The booklet was simply labeled 'Alternate' and inside contained quite a lot of numbers and diagrams that honestly made her head spin, "I can't read smart. You'll need to explain this to me."

"It's not really as complicated as you think. Apparently, there are such things as alternate timelines. Any decision and any choice you make would create an alternate timeline or world where you made the opposite decision or choice. This means that there are good timelines...and not so great ones."

"And what are you suggesting? That we're in a bad timeline?"

He nodded, "Yeah, apparently this wasn't supposed to happen."

"What wasn't?" 

"The war, apocalypse...the shitty childhood we had. I mean, I know that without it we would've never found each other but this isn't how things were supposed to be. We could be living in some futuristic household by now if it weren't for those things." 

Savannah paused, taking those words in. Normally it wouldn't bother her. After all, this was her 'timeline'. Her home. And she couldn't fathom to think that she was supposed to be living another life. One where possibly things didn't go as badly as it did and they wouldn't be still fighting to survive. She had a feeling he was building this up to something, "But what can we do anyway? We can't change whatever's in the past."

"Apparently, we can." He answered with a grin. He handed her another pamphlet out of his coat pocket. This one labeled as 'Bureau of Time Travel', an organization she had vaguely heard of but only assumed it was some rumor. He continued, "They're looking for new recruits to help change the past." 

She stared at the pamphlet and read its contents, "And you want to join."

"Well..." He paused momentarily, his smile fading, "I was kinda hoping you could join too."

"Me?" She looked at him in surprise, "Why do you want me to join?"

"Because you're probably more fit to be a time agent than I can be. You helped us survive throughout the years and I'm sure even without my help, you could've found a way to survive. You seriously deserve more than this shitty lifestyle."

She had to laugh, "If it wasn't for you, I probably would've been dead. You can't give me the credit for everything. You sacrificed a lot for me and maybe even more times that I know of. If anything, it's you that deserves to live in a better timeline."

"I definitely won't join without you. So if you want me to live in a better timeline, you'll have to come with me." He couldn't help but smirk as Savannah stared at him, realizing she may have walked right into his plan. 

"Damn, I guess I won't join." She answered after they finished laughing at Vinnie's own intelligence against her, "But I do have a question. Before I join, that is." 

"Shoot." 

"Our biological families were killed, probably not being apart of the original timeline. What will that mean for us then? Will we not know each other when the timeline is fixed?"

Vinnie's expression changed to a softer one as he sat down next to her realizing that was a genuine concern. It was honestly a concern of his too before he began researching. Even with all the research in the world, it still didn't eliminate some of his fears, "Honestly, I don't think so. I really did do a lot of research about it. Just to get past the complicated stuff, anyone who gets involved in changing anything with the past won't be affected by whatever happens in their time. So, I guess that even though the timeline will be fixed we can go back to our time and everything will change. But since we changed the past together, I guess our pasts will remain unchanged. Think of it like a force field or something." 

Savannah didn't quite understand but knew that most likely she would when she stayed up late at night thinking about it, "I see."

"You can think about it if you want. I know that this kinda stuff is hard to make a decision for quickly." 

There would be almost no risks. She could live a life she was meant to live, one where she no longer worried about food or where to live or anything like that. Vinnie could stop being so hardworking for both of them. He had practically raised her despite him raising himself and she felt this was the least she could do, "I already made up my mind. If you join, I'll join." 

 

_━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━_

_Present Day_

 

"Well, things changed. Like I have. You clearly have too." Savannah finally stated after a few moments of silence. She didn't know how to respond to him and even what she said felt like she was dodging whatever statement Vinnie was trying to make.

He shook his head, "You don't get it. You're supposed to change for the better, not worse. I know I'm not the best anymore but I don't want the same out of you. You are so much better than this spoiled...person you've become." He chose his words carefully as if he wanted to call her out but at the same time not hurt her. 

Savannah didn't take those words kindly. Like he expected. Of course, he should expect it, "Spoiled? How can I be that? I work my ass off for this bureau for some boss that doesn't give a shit about anyone. I  _deserve_ all of the rewards that come with being a time agent. And you know it." 

"I'm not saying you don't deserve it. I'm saying that all of those rewards, perks, or whatever is making you forget why you're even a time agent in the first place. I'm not telling you this as a coworker or whatever-I'm telling you this as your brother-"

It seemed to be the final straw for Savannah. The months of failed missions thanks to Vinnie, his broken promises, his repeated apologies, the destroyed limos, stolen gadgets and his claim she changed was the straw that broke the camel's back. There must've been more to the list that escalated the fight to the way it did but regardless of the reasoning, she practically yelled her next sentence, “You will _never_ be my brother and it's pathetic you even think that!”

And just like that, Vinnie shut up.

It took only a heartbeat to realize what she just said. Her throat immediately tightened which lost her ability to apologize. 

She watched, her heart pumping rapidly, as Vinnie took in the words like one would with a spoonful of honey. Only that the honey was stale and bitter.

She couldn’t take those words back. That’s what ended up hurting the most. No matter what she called him, it always was out of love. Calling him a dumbass or an idiot for not thinking clearly could be excusable. But how could one excuse the words she just said?

They said nothing for the longest time. She saw the shock in him when the words first came out, obviously since he would never expect her to say such words. But now that the moment was gone, his shock was too. She continued looking at him, trying to find some emotion in him. Anger, sadness, disappointment, anything. But she knew him well enough. He had now put that wall between them. 

She wanted Vinnie to say something. And she waited for him to speak. A retort, remark, cursing, anything. If he yelled at her and called a brat, she would definitely not argue. She would accept anything he could think of calling her so long as it meant she was able to see what he was feeling. 

But he said nothing. And that was so much sharper than any words he could ever say. And he had a right to say something. She wondered if the reason why he wasn’t saying anything was that either he had nothing to say or he had paragraphs of words but he didn’t want to hurt her like she just did. If it was the latter, she would probably die of heartbreak on the spot from how much pain she felt. 

She wouldn’t know his reasoning or his feelings in the end. He turned and left without even saying a word to her or giving her one last look. Not even the way he closed the door expressed any negative emotion. She continued staring at the door, waiting for Vinnie to open it and say he forgave her. But he didn't. Each minute that passed resulted in her breath being shakier and her throat tightening so much to the point that the only cure was sobbing. And that she did. 

She was now alone in the apartment she had earned. 

**Author's Note:**

> I realize it might've made the story more flowing if I had put italics to mean the past but maybe it's just my poor aging eyes but I feel like have parts being entirely in italics would've been distracting and a lot less pleasing to the eyes to read. And I know things might be vague now but trust me that the chapters will help explain everything! This might easily change to two chapters though as I'm still working things out but this has been an idea that's been on my mind so much I paused everything I planned to write this-Things may be edited by the time the story is over but I will let you all know!
> 
> Regardless, please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as I genuinely would love to hear your thoughts! And I'm always happy to talk to people about the show or fanfiction in general so please feel free to hit me up on [Amino](http://aminoapps.com/p/ssbc8m8) and/or [Tumblr](https://insomniac-pens.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
